Method of installing door of car and door hinge assembly jig

ABSTRACT

Positions of attachment of door-side hinge arms ( 2 ) of doors (Df, Dr) are previously determined. At a temporary door-fixing step (b, c) before coating, positions of hinge positioning and retaining means ( 30   fa   , 30   fb   ; 30   ra   , 30   rb ) of a door hinge-assembling jig (J) set at a predetermined position on an automobile body (B) are adjusted, while taking account of the correction of the ill-fitting such as an inclination of the door due to its own weight or the like to be generated when the door (Df, Dr) will be attached to the automobile body (B) at a final door-attaching step (g) after the coating, and body-side hinge arms ( 1 ) of door hinges (Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) retained on the hinge positioning and retaining means ( 30   fa   , 30   fb   ; 30   ra   , 30   rb ) are attached to the automobile body (B). Thus, the final attachment of the doors can be conducted properly without correction of any ill-fitting of the door after equipping.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a door mounting method for anautomobile, and particularly, to an improvement of such methodcomprising a door hinge-attaching step of preparing door hinges eachcomprised of a body-side hinge arm, a door-side hinge arm, and a hingepin which connects the hinge arms to each other for rotation relative toeach other, and attaching the body-side hinge arms to an uncoatedautomobile body, a temporary door-fixing step of temporarily fixinguncoated doors to the door-side hinge arms of the door hinges, a coatingstep of coating the automobile body and the doors simultaneously afterthe temporary fixing step, a door-removing step of removing the doorsfrom the door-side hinge arms after the coating step, an equipping stepof equipping or fitting-out the coated automobile body and the coateddoors individually, and a final door-attaching step of finally attachingthe doors to the corresponding door-side hinge arms after the equippingstep.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a door hinge-assembling jigfor use in carrying out the above-described door mounting method.

BACKGROUND ART

[0003] A door mounting method for an automobile of the above-describedtype is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2-254080,for example. In this door-mounting method, a difference between thecolor tones of an automobile body and doors can be eliminated bysimultaneously coating the automobile body and the doors.

[0004] In the method disclosed in the above publication, however, whenthe door is finally attached to the door-side hinge arm of the doorhinges attached to the automobile body after the fitting-out or theequipping of the automobile body and door, it is necessary to carry outthe ill-fitting correction for correcting any inclination of the doordue to its own weight or the like. For this reason, the final attachingoperation is troublesome.

[0005] A door hinge-assembling jig for an automobile is already known,as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.8-39364, forexample. The jig for assembling the door hinges to an automobile body,disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.8-39364, isconstructed as follows: A pair of front and rear positioning pins areprovided on a jig body, so that they can be fitted into reference boresin a front pillar and a center pillar of the automobile body, and a pairof upper and lower hinge-setting blocks for positioning and retainingthe door hinges are mounted on a longitudinal rod of the jig body, sothat their positions can be adjusted vertically and longitudinally.

[0006] However, such conventional door hinge-assembling jig suffers fromthe following disadvantages: Even when the ill-fitting of the door iscorrected, the positions of attachment of the upper and lowerhinge-setting blocks on the longitudinal rod are adjusted individuallyand for this reason, the adjusting operation is troublesome, and a longoperating time is required.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention has been accomplished with suchcircumstances in view, and it is an object of the present invention toprovide a door mounting method for an automobile, wherein a final doorattachment can be conducted properly without correction of anyill-fitting of the door after the equipping, thereby providing anenhancement in operating efficiency.

[0008] It is another object of the present invention to provide a doorhinge-assembling jig for an automobile, wherein the positions of upperand lower hinge positioning and retaining means on a jig frame can beadjusted easily and quickly while taking account of the correction ofthe ill-fitting of the door.

[0009] To achieve the above object, according to the present invention,there is provided a door mounting method for an automobile, comprising adoor hinge-attaching step of preparing door hinges each comprised of abody-side hinge arm, a door-side hinge arm, and a hinge pin whichconnects the hinge arms to each other for rotation relative to eachother, and attaching the body-side hinge arms to an uncoated automobilebody, a temporary door-fixing step of temporarily fixing uncoated doorsto the door-side hing arms of the door hinges, a coating st p of coatingthe automobile body and the doors simultaneously after the temporarydoor-fixing step, a door-removing step of removing the doors from thedoor-side hinge arms after the coating step, an equipping step ofequipping or fitting-out the coated automobile body and the coated doorsindividually, and a final door-attaching step of finally attaching thedoors to the corresponding door-side hinge arms after the equippingstep, wherein the positions of attachment of the door-side hinge arms onthe doors are previously determined, and at the temporary door-fixingstep, the positions of hinge positioning and retaining means of a doorhinge-assembling jig set at a predetermined position on the automobilebody are adjusted while taking account of the correction of theill-fitting of the doors to be generated when the doors will be attachedto the automobile body at the final door-attaching step, and thebody-side hinge arms of the door hinges retained on the hingepositioning and retaining means are attached to the automobile body.

[0010] With the above arrangement, at the door hinge-attaching step, thepositions of the hinge positioning and retaining means of the doorhinge-assembling jig set at the predetermined position on the automobilebody are adjusted while taking account of the correction of theill-fitting of the doors to be generated when the doors will be attachedto the automobile body at the final door-attaching step, and thebody-side hinge arms of the door hinges retained on the hingepositioning and retaining means are attached to the automobile body.Therefore, after the equipment, the final attachment of the doors can beconducted properly without the correction of any ill-fitting of thedoors and hence, the efficiency of the door attaching operation can beenhanced.

[0011] According to the present invention, in addition to the abovefeature, there is provided a door mounting method for an automobile,wherein at the door hinge-attaching step, front and rear door hinges forrespectively supporting the front and rear doors are retained on thefront and rear hinge positioning and retaining means provided on thesame door hinge-assembling jig, and the body-side hinge arms of thefront and rear door hinges are attached to a front pillar and a centerpillar of the automobile body, respectively.

[0012] With the above arrangement, at the door hinge-attaching step, thefront and rear door hinges are retained on the front and rear hingepositioning and retaining means provided on the same doorhinge-assembling jig, and the body-side hinge arms of the front and reardoor hinges are attached to the front pillar and the center pillar ofthe automobile body, respectively. Therefore, the attachment of thefront and rear door hinges can be conducted easily and quickly.

[0013] According to the present invention, in addition to the abovefeature, there is provided a door mounting method for an automobile,wherein the temporary door-attaching step comprises a temporary reardoor-fixing step for carrying out the temporary fixing of the rear doorto the rear door hinges, and a temporary front door-fixing step forcarrying out the temporary fixing of the front door to the front doorhinges after the temporary rear door-fixing step.

[0014] With the above arrangement, in the temporary fixing of the frontdoor, the temporary front door-fixing operation can be conducted withoutbeing interfered in anyway by the rear door and with a wide operatingspace by previously closing the temporarily fixed rear door.

[0015] According to the present invention, in addition to the abovefeature, there is provided a door mounting method for an automobile,wherein when the doors are temporarily fixed to the door-side hinge armsat the temporary door-fixing step, a temporary fixing bolt is used whichhas a head flange with a diameter smaller than that of a head flange ofa bolt used to attach the doors to the door-side hinge arms at the finaldoor-attaching step.

[0016] With the above arrangement, when the temporary fixing bolt hasbeen disengaged after the coating to remove the doors, a non-coatedportion of the automobile body, with which the head flange of thetemporary fixing bolt has been in close contact, is covered with thehead flange of the bolt used for the final attachment of the doors andthus, the non-coated portion can be prevented easily and reliably frombeing brought into an exposed state.

[0017] According to the present inv ntion, there is provided a doorhinge-assembling jig for an automobile, comprising a jig frame havingpositioning engage portions to be brought into engagement forpositioning with at least two points of an outer wall of an automobilebody, a support arm which is capable of being turned for adjustmentalong the outer wall of the automobile body and is connected to the jigframe by a pivot located in an intermediate portion between a pair ofupper and lower hinge-mounting portions on the automobile body to extendvertically, an adjusting and fixing means capable of fixing the supportarm at any turned and adjusted positions, and a pair of upper and lowerhinge positioning and retaining means mounted at upper and loweropposite ends of the support arm for positioning and retaining doorhinges to be bolted to the hinge-mounting portions.

[0018] With the above arrangement, the positions of the upper and lowerhinge positioning and retaining means are adjusted in directionsopposite from each other by loosing the adjusting and fixing means andturning the support arm about the pivot in a state in which thepositioning engage portions of the jig frame have been brought intoengagement with predetermined positioning engage portions of theautomobile body, and then, the front and rear adjusting and fixing meansare tightened. In this manner, the adjustments of the positions of thepair of upper and lower hinge positioning and retaining means can beconducted at a stroke while taking account of the correction of theill-fitting of the door and hence, such an adjusting operating can beexpedited.

[0019] According to the present invention, in addition to the abovefeature, there is provided a door hinge-assembling jig for anautomobile, wherein a rope or a cable is connected to the jig frame forhanging down the jig frame.

[0020] With the above arrangement, the jig frame can be supported formovement in longitudinal and lateral directions of a vehicle with therope or cable, and the positioning engagement of the positioning engageportions of the jig frame with the automobile body can be achievedeasily.

[0021] Further, according to the present invention, in addition to theabove feature, there is provided a door hinge-assembling jig for anautomobile, wherein each of the hinge positioning and retaining meanscomprises a base plate fixed to the support arm, a stopper memberfixedly mounted on the base plate, a push member supported on the baseplate for movement between a closed position where the push memberclamps a door-side hinge arm of the door hinge by cooperation with thestopper member, and an opened position where the push member ispositioned at a distance apart from the stopper member to release thedoor-side hinge arm, and an operating means capable of operating thepush member between the closed position and the opened position, thepush member being provided with positioning members to be brought intoengagement in bolt bores in the door-side hinge arm.

[0022] With th above arrangement, in the closed position of the pushmember, the door-side hinge arm can be retained at a predeterminedlocation on the hinge positioning and retaining means by utilizing thebolt bores in the door-side hinge arm.

[0023] The above and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will become apparent from the following description of thepreferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024]FIG. 1 is a side view of an essential portion of a completedautomobile;

[0025]FIG. 2 is a partially vertical sectional front view showing astructure of mounting of an upper front door hinge to the automobile inFIG. 1;

[0026]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

[0027]FIG. 4 is a front view of door-side hinge arms of upper and lowerfront door hinges shown in FIG. 1;

[0028]FIG. 5 is a partially vertical sectional front view showing astructure of mounting of an upper rear door hinge to the automobileshown in FIG. 1;

[0029]FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line 6-6 in FIG. 5;

[0030]FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a portion of a process formanufacturing an automobile;

[0031]FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a structure of temporary fixingof a door to each of the door hinges;

[0032]FIG. 9 is a front view of a jig for assembling the door hinges toan automobile body for use in the automobile manufacturing process;

[0033]FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by 10 in FIG. 9(shown with the upper and lower front door hinges removed);

[0034]FIG. 11 is a view taken in the direction of an arrow 11 in FIG. 9;

[0035]FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along a line 12-12 in FIG. 9;

[0036]FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 10 for explaining the operationwith the upper and lower front door hinges positioned and retained;

[0037]FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by 14 in FIG.9;

[0038]FIG. 15 is a view taken in the direction of an arrow 15 in FIG. 9;

[0039]FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along a line 16-16 in FIG. 9;

[0040]FIG. 17 is a front view showing a modification to a hingepositioning and retaining means in the door hinge-assembling jig.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0041] The present invention will now be described by way of embodimentswith reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 1, a completed automobile A has a front door Dfand a rear door Dr. The front door Df is attached to a front pillar Pfof an automobile body B through an upper front door hinge Hfa and alower front door hinge Hfb which form a pair. The rear door Dr isattached to a center pillar Ps of the automobile body B through an upperrear door hinge Hra and a lower rear door hinge Hrb which form a pair.

[0043] The upper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb and thestructure of attachment of the door hinges Hfa and Hfb to the automobileA will be first described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0044] The upper front door hinge Hf a comprises a body-side hinge arm1, a door-side hinge arm 2, and a hinge pin 3 which turnably connectsboth of hinge arms 1 and 2 to each other. A pair of bolt bores 4, 4 areprovided in the body-side hinge arm 1, so that the body-side hinge arm 1is secured to the front pillar Pf by threadedly fitting bolts 6, 6inserted through the bolt bores 4, 4 into a pair of welding nuts 8, 8secured to the front pillar Pf of the automobile body B to tighten thebolts 6, 6. In this case, each of the bolt bores 4, 4 is formed at adiameter sufficiently larger than that of each of the bolts 6, 6 toenable the position of mounting of the body-side hinge arm 1 to beadjusted finely.

[0045] A reference bolt bore 5 is provided in an upper end of thedoor-side hinge arm 2, and a large-diameter bolt bores 5′ is provided ina lower end of the door-side hinge arm 2 (see FIG. 4), so that thedoor-side hinge arm 2 is secured to the front door Df by threadedlyfitting stepped bolts 7, 7 inserted through the bolt bores 5 and 5′ intowelding nuts 9, 9 s cured to an upper portion of a front end wall of thefront door Df to tighten the bolts 7, 7. In this case, a large-diametershank of the stepped bolts 7 is fitted in the reference bolt bore 5 withalmost no gap left therebetween, and a large-diameter shank of thestepped bolts 7 is fitted in the large-diameter bolt bore 5′ with arelatively large gap left around the large-diameter shank.

[0046] The lower front door hinge Hfb has an arrangement similar to thatof the upper front door hinge Hfa, except for the shape of the door-sidehinge arm 2. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the door-side hingearm 2 of the lower front door hinge Hfb has the large-diameter bolt bore5′ in its upper end and the reference bolt bore 5 comprising avertically elongated bore and provided in its lower end (see FIG. 4), sothat the door-side hinge arm 2 is secured to the front door Df bythreadedly fitting the stepped bolts 7, 7 inserted through the boltbores 5′ and 5 into the welding nuts 9, 9 secured to the lower portionof the front end wall of the front door Df to tighten the stepped bolts7, 7. In this case, the large-diameter portion of the stepped bolt 7 isput into abutment against opposite sidewalls of the vertically elongatedreference bolt bore 5 with almost no gap left therebetween.

[0047] Thus, the position of mounting of the door-side hinge arm 2 ofeach of the upper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb to the frontdoor Df is determined by fitting of the large-diameter shank of thestepped bolt 7 in the reference bolt bore 5 in the door-side hinge arm 2of each of the upper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb.

[0048] The upper and lower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb and thestructure of mounting of the door hinges Hra and Hrb to the automobilewill be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0049] As does the upper front door hinge Hfa, the upper rear door hingeHra also comprises a body-side hinge arm 1, a door-side hinge arm 2, anda hinge pin 3 which turnably connects both of the hinge arms 1 and 2 toeach other. The door-side hinge arm 2 has a reference bolt bore 5 in itsupper end and a large-diameter bolt bore 5′ in its lower end, but headsof a pair of upper and lower coupling bolts 10 are previously secured tothe body-side hinge arm 1. Thus, the body-side hinge arm 1 is secured tothe center pillar Ps by inserting the coupling bolts 10 through boltbores 11 in an outer wall of the center pillar Ps of the body B, andthreadedly fitting nuts 12 over the coupling bolts 10 from a back sideof the center pillar Ps to tighten the nuts 12. The securing of thedoor-side hinge arm 2 to the rear door Dr is conducted using steppedbolts 7, 7, as in the case of the front door hinge Hfa. Therefore, evenin this case, a large-diameter shank of the stepped bolt 7 is fitted inthe reference bolt bore 5 with almost no gap left therebetween, and alarge-diameter shank of the stepped bolt 7 is fitted in thelarge-diameter bolt bore 5′ with a relatively large gap left around thelarger-diameter shank.

[0050] The lower rear door hinge Hrb has an arrangement basicallysimilar to that of the upper rear door hinge Hra, except for the shapesof the body-side and door-side hinge arms 1 and 2. The structure ofmounting of the lower rear door hinge Hrb to the automobile body B andthe rear door Dr is also basically similar to that in the case of theupper rear door hinge Hra.

[0051] Even in this case, the position of mounting of the door-sidehinge arm 2 of each of the upper and lower rear door hinges Hra and Hrbto the rear door Dr is determined by fitting of the large-diameterportion of the stepped bolt 7 in the reference bolt bore 5 in thedoor-side hinge arm 2 of each of the upper and lower rear door hingesHra and Hrb.

[0052] Steps of manufacturing such automobile A will be described withreference to FIG. 7.

[0053] First, the uncoated automobile body B resulting from a weldingstep, i.e., a white body B is transferred to a door hinge-attaching step(a). At the step (a), the body-side hinge arms 1, 1 of the upper andlower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb are attached to the front pillar Pfof the white body B, as described above, and the body-side hinge arms 1,1 of the upper and lower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb are attached tothe center pillar Ps of the white body B, as described above, using adoor hinge-assembling jig J which will be described hereinafter.

[0054] Then, the white body B is transferred to a step (b) oftemporarily fixing the rear door, at which the rear door Dr istemporarily fixed to the door-side hinge arms 2, 2 of the upper andlower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb already attached to the center pillarPs of the white body B. The rear door Dr is closed and subsequently, thewhite body B is transferred to a step (c) of temporarily fixing thefront door, at which the front door Df is temporarily fixed to thedoor-side hinge arms 2, 2 of the upper and lower front door hinges Hf aand Hfb already attached to the front pillar Pf. In this case, thetemporary fixing of the front door Df can be carried out without beinginterfered in anyway by the rear door Dr, because the rear door Dr is inits closed state.

[0055] It should be noted here that in general, when the front door Dfis closed, a rear end of the front door Df is in proximity to the upperand lower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb attached to the center pillar Ps.Therefore, if the front door Df is first temporarily fixed in an orderreverse from the above-described order, it is not preferable. The reasonis as follows: To ensure that the rear door Dr is then temporarily fixedwithout being obstructed by the front door Df, the front door Df must beretained in its opened state, and if the front door Df is retained inits opened state, the front door Df limits the movement of an operatoroutside the white body B.

[0056] During the temporary fixing of the rear door Dr and the frontdoor Df, the door-side hinge arm 2 of each of the door hinges Hra, Hrb;Hfa, Hfb is coupled to the corresponding door Dr, Df by a temporaryfixing bolt 07, as shown in FIG. 8. A head flange 07 a of the temporaryfixing bolt 07 is formed at a diameter smaller than that of a headflange 7 a of the stepped bolt 7, but six corners of the heads of thebolts 7 and 07 are of the same shapes in order to enable the same toolto be used.

[0057] After the temporary fixing of the rear door Dr and the front doorDf to the white body B, a front fender, a bonnet and a trunk lid areattached to the white body B. If the temporary fixing of the rear doorDr and the front door Df is carried out prior to the attachment of thefront fender in this manner, the temporary fixing of the front door Dfcan be conducted without being obstructed by the front fender, which isadvantageous for improving the operability.

[0058] The white body B, to which the rear door Dr and the front door Dfhave been temporarily fixed and the front fender, the bonnet and thetrunk lid have been attached, in the above manner, is transferred to anext coating step (d), at which the white body B, the rear door Dr andthe front door Df are simultaneously subjected to a coating. This makesit possible to eliminate a difference between tones of colors in thecoating of the automobile body B and the doors Df and Dr as well as thefront fender, the bonnet and the trunk lid.

[0059] After the coating, the automobile body B is transferred to adoor-removing step (e), at which the front door Df is removed from theupper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb, and the rear door Dr isremoved from the upper and lower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb. Then, theautomobile body B is transferred to a main assembling line, where thefitting-out or equipping such as mounting or attachment of an engine,suspensions and interiors is carried out, as usual. The front and reardoors Df and Dr are transferred to a door equipping step (f) in asub-line, at which the equipping or fitting-out such as the mounting orattachment of a window regulator and interiors is carried out.

[0060] Thereafter, the doors Df and Dr are transferred to a finaldoor-attaching step (g) in the main assembling line. At the step (g),the front door Df is attached to the door-side hinge arms 2, 2 of thecorresponding upper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hrb of theautomobile body B by the regular stepped bolts 7, and the rear door Dris also attached to the door-side hinge arms 2, 2 of the upper and lowerrear door hinges Hra and Hrb by the regular stepped bolts 7.

[0061] Thus, after the equipping, the final attachment of the doors Dfand Dr can be carried out properly without correction of any ill-fittingof the front and rear doors Df and Dr, and thus, the efficiency of thedoor-attaching operation can be enhanced.

[0062] The head flange 7 a of the regular stepped bolt 7 is formed atthe diameter larger than that of the head flange 07 a of the temporaryfixing bolt 07, as described above, and hence, when the door Df, Dr isattached to the corresponding door-side hinge arm 2 of each of the doorhinges Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb by the stepped bolt 7, a non-coated portion ofthe automobile body B, with which the head flange 07 a of the temporaryfixing bolt 07 has been in close contact, is covered with the headflange 7 a of the stepped bolt 7 and thus, the non-coated portion can beprevented easily and reliably from being brought into an exposed state.

[0063] The arrangement of the door hinge-assembling jig J and a processfor use of the jig will be described below with reference to FIGS. 9 to16.

[0064] Referring first to FIGS. 9 to 12, the door hinge-assembling jig Jincludes a jig frame 15 having such a length that it extends between thefront pillar Pf and the center pillar Ps of the automobile body B. Thejig frame 15 is comprised of a pair of upper and lower elongatedlongitudinal frame elements 16 and 16′ coupled to each other through aplurality of short cross frame elements 17.

[0065] A pair of positioning pins 19 and 19′ (see FIGS. 9, 11, 12 and16) are projectingly provided on the jig frame 15 and fitted into atleast a pair of positioning bores 18 and 18′ provided in the outer wallof the automobile body B. A predetermined set position for the doorhinge-assembling jig J on the automobile body B is defined by thefitting of the positioning pins 19 and 19′ in the positioning bores 18and 18′.

[0066] A pair of front and rear eye bolts 20 and 20′ are secured to theupper longitudinal frame element 16 of the jig frame 15, and ropes orcables 21 supported on a lift (not shown) are connected to the eye bolts20 and 20′, whereby the door hinge-assembling Jig J is movably hung downin longitudinal and lateral directions of the automobile.

[0067] A front support arm 23 f is turnably connected to a front portionof the jig frame 15 through a horizontal front pivot 22 f, and a rearsupport arm 23 r is turnably connected to a rear portion of the jigframe 15 through a horizontal rear pivot 22 r. When the jig frame 15occupies the predetermined set position, the front pivot 22 f is locatedat a substantially middle point between a pair of upper and lowerhinge-mounting portions 13 fa, 13 fba, 13 fa, 13 fbb of the front pillarPf. In addition, when the jig frame 15 occupies the predetermined setposition, the rear pivot 22 r is located at a substantially middle pointbetween a pair of upper and lower hinge-mounting portions 13 ra, 13 rba,13 ra, 13 rbb of the center pillar Ps.

[0068] Front and rear adjusting and fixing means 24 f and 24 r areprovided between the jig frame 15 and the front and rear support arms 23f and 23 r, respectively, and are capable of fixing turned and adjustedpositions for the corresponding support arms 23 f and 23 r.

[0069] Each of the adjusting and fixing means 24 f and 24 r is comprisedof a stationary scale plate 25 fixedly mounted on the jig frame 15, aturn plate 26 fixedly mounted on the support arm 23 f, 23 r andsuperposed on the stationary scale plate 25, and a fixing bolt 27capable of connecting both of the plates 15 and 26 to each other, asshown in FIGS. 10 and 14. Adjusted-position graduations 28 are marked onthe stationary scale plate 25, so that the corresponding support arm 23f, 23 r can be brought into a desired turned position by setting an endedge of the turn plate 26 at a suitable adjusted-position graduation 28,and can be fixed by tightening the fixing bolt 27 at that position.

[0070] A pair of upper and lower front hinge positioning and retainingmeans 30 fa and 30 fb are mounted on the front support arm 23 f, and apair of upper and lower rear hinge positioning and retaining means 30 raand 30 rb are mounted on the rear support arm 23 r.

[0071] As shown in FIGS. 10, 11, 13 and 14, each of the hingepositioning and retaining means 30 fa, 30 fb, 30 ra and 30 rb includes abase plate 31 fixed to a mounting plate 34 fixedly mounted on each ofthe support arms 23 f and 23 r, so that its position can be adjustedvertically and longitudinally by a position-adjusting means (not shown),a stopper member 32 fixedly mounted on the base plate 31, and a pushmember 33 capable of releasably clamping the door-side hinge arm 2 ofthe corresponding door hinges Hfa, Hfb, Hra and Hrb by cooperation withthe stopper member 32.

[0072] The stopper member 32 includes a pair of upper and lower bearingportions 32 a and 32 b capable of receiving opposite ends of thedoor-side hinge arm 2, and a positioning guide bore 35 is provided inthe upper bearing portion 34 and has a diameter equal to that of thebolt bore 5 in the door-side hinge arm 2.

[0073] A pair of upper and lower guide tubes 36 and 36′ are fixedlymounted on the base plate 31 to extend in the longitudinal direction ofthe automobile body B, and the push member 33 is secured to front endsof support rods 37 and 37′ slidably received in the guide tubes 36 and36′. The push member 33 includes a pair of upper and lower pushingportions 33 a and 33 b confronted to the bearing portions 32 a and 32 b.A positioning plunger 38 is mounted on the upper pushing portion 33 aand capable of being fitted into the positioning guide bore 35 throughthe upper bolt bore 5 in the door-side hinge arm 2, and a sphericalprojection 39 is provided on the lower pushing portion 33 b and capableof being engaged into the lower bolt bore 5 in the door-side hinge arm2.

[0074] An operating rod 40 is disposed in parallel to and between thepair of support rods 37 and 37′ and secured to the push member 33, andan air cylinder 41 is mounted to the base plate 31 for operating theoperating rod 40 axially to move the push member 33 toward and away fromthe stopper member 32.

[0075] As shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, 14 and 15, front and rear brackets 42f and 42 r are provided in a rising manner at front and rear portions ofthe jig frame 15, respectively, and front and rear clamp members 43 fand 43 r are supported at tip ends of the front and rear brackets 42 fand 42 r through vertical pivots 44 f and 44 r, respectively.

[0076] Each of the clamp members 43 f and 43 r comprises a boss 45rotatably fitted into the corresponding pivot 44 f, 44 r, and anoperating arm 46 and a clamp arm 47 coupled to an outer periphery of theboss 45, so that the clamp arm 47 can be operated in turning movement bythe operating arm 46 between a closed position C where it clamps aperipheral edge flange portion 48 f of the front pillar Pf or aperipheral edge flange portion 48 r of the center pillar Ps from theinside, and an opened position O where it releases the flange portion 48f or 48 r. In Figures, reference characters 56 f and 56 r are switchesfor operating, in advancing and retracting movements, the air cylinders41 of the upper front and rear hinge positioning and retaining means 30fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb. Reference characters 57 f and 57 r denoteswitches for operating, in advancing and retracting movements, the aircylinders 41 of the lower front and rear hinge positioning and retainingmeans 30 fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb. Reference character 58 f denotes aswitch for operating, in retracting movement, the air cylinders 41 ofthe upper and lower front hinge positioning and retaining means 30 faand 30 fb all together, and reference character 58 r denotes a switchfor operating, in retracting movement, the air cylinders 41 of the upperand lower rear hinge positioning and retaining means 30 ra and 30 rb alltogether.

[0077] In using the door hinge-assembling jig J, the ropes or cables 21are previously lifted or lowered by the lift (not shown) to set the doorhinge-assembling jig J at a predetermined level in a doorhinge-assembling station on the automobile manufacturing line, so thatthe positioning pins 19 and 19′ of the jig frame 15 are matched to thepositions of the positioning bores 18 and 18′ of the automobile body Bto be manufactured. Thereafter, the position of each base plate 31 securd to each of the mounting plates 34 of the front and rear support arms23 f and 23 r is adjusted and fixed by the adjusting means (not shown)in correspondence to the position of attachment of each of the pair ofupper and lower front door hinges Hfa and Hfb and the pair of upper andlower rear door hinges Hra and Hrb on the bases of each of the front andrear pivots 22 f and 22 r.

[0078] Then, the front and rear adjusting and fixing means 24 f and 24 rare loosened, and the front and rear support arms 23 f and 23 r areturned about the front and rear pivots 22 f and 22 r while takingaccount of the ill-fitting correction for correcting the inclinations ofthe front and rear doors Df and Dr due to their own weights or the like,thereby adjusting the positions of the front and rear hinge positioningand retaining means 30 fa, 30 fb, 30 ra and 30 rb. In this case, theturning movements of the front and rear support arms 23 f and 23 r causethe front and rear hinge positioning and retaining means 30 fa, 30 fb;30 ra, 30 rb to be moved in opposite directions. Therefore, the fittingsof the front and rear doors Df and Dr can be adjusted at a stroke andthus, such adjusting operation can be facilitated and expedited. Afterthis adjustment, the front and rear adjusting and fixing means 24 f and24 r are tightened.

[0079] After such adjustment, the front and rear door hinges Hfa, Hfb,Hra and Hrb are positioned and retained by the front and rear hingepositioning and retaining means 30 fa, 30 fb, 30 ra and 30 rb, as shownin FIG. 13, prior to the arrival of the white body B.

[0080] In such positioning and retaining of each of the hinges Hfa, Hfb,Hra and Hrb, first, the push member 33 is retracted by the air cylinder41, and the upper bolt bore 5 in the corresponding door-side hinge arm 2is fitted over the outer periphery of the positioning plunger 38 of thepush member 33, while the lower bolt bore 5 is brought into engagementwith the positioning projection 39 of the push member 33. Then, the aircylinder 41 is operated to advance the push member 33 toward the stoppermember 32, thereby clamping the door-side hinge arm 2 by the pushingportions 33 a and 33 b and the bearing portions 32 a and 32 b, whilefitting the positioning plunger 38 into the positioning guide bore 35 inthe stopper member 32.

[0081] When the white body B reaches a place where the doorhinge-assembling jig J stands by, the front and rear positioning pins 19and 19′ are fitted into the front and rear positioning bores 18 and 18′of the automobile body B, respectively while pushing the jig frame 15against the outer wall of the white body B. In this case, the operatorcan move the jig frame 15 lightly in the longitudinal and lateraldirections of the white body B to extremely easily fit the front andrear positioning pins 19 and 19′ into the front and rear positioningbores 18 and 18′ of the automobile body B, because the jig frame 15 hasbeen hung down at the predetermined level by the ropes or cables 21. Atthe same time, in each of the front door hinges Hfa and Hfb, thecoupling bolt 10 of the body-side hinge arm 1 is inserted into the boltbore 4 in the front pillar Pf, and the body-side hinge arm 1 is broughtinto abutment against the outer surface of the front pillar Pf. In eachof the rear door hinges Hra and Hrb, the coupling bolt 10 of thebody-side hinge arm 1 is matched to the bolt bores 11 in the frontpillar Pf and the center pillar Ps, and the body-side hinge arm 1 isbrought into abutment against the outer surface of the center pillar Ps.

[0082] Thereupon, the operating arm 46 of each of the front and rearclamp members 43 f and 43 r is turned to the closed position C asdescribed above to clamp the peripheral edge flange portion 48 f, 48 rof the front pillar Pf or the center pillar Ps from the inside. Thus,the front and rear clamp members 43 f and 43 r clamp both of the frontpillar Pf and the front door hinges Hfa and Hfb as well as both of thecenter pillar Pr and the rear door hinges Hra and Hrb by cooperationwith the front and rear hinge positioning and retaining means 30 fa, 30fb, 30 ra and 30 rb, respectively.

[0083] In this state, in each of the front door hinges Hfa and Hfb, thebody-side hinge arm 1 can be secured at a predetermined position on thefront pillar Pf by threadedly fitting the bolt 6 inserted through thebolt bores 4 in the body-side hinge arm 1 into the welding nut 8 in thefront pillar Pf to tighten the bolt 6. In each of the rear door hingesHra and Hrb, the body-side hinge arm 1 can be secured at a predeterminedposition on the center pillar Ps by inserting the coupling bolt 10 ofthe body-side hinge arm 1 through the bolt bore 11 in the center pillarPs and threadedly fitting the nut 12 ov r the coupling bolt 10 totighten the nut 12.

[0084] After assembling of the front and rear door hinges Hfa, Hfb, Hraand Hrb, the operating arms 46 of the front and rear clamp members 43 fand 43 r are operated into the opened positions O to release the frontand center pillars Pf and Ps, and the push members 33 are retracted bythe retracting operation of the air cylinders 41 to release the doorhinges Hfa, Hfb, Hra and Hrb.

[0085] A modification to the door hinge-assembling jig J will bedescribed below with reference to FIG. 17.

[0086] In this modification, a manually operating device 50 is connectedto the push member 33, in place of the air cylinders 41 of the front andrear hinge positioning and retaining means 30 fa, 30 fb, 30 ra and 30 rbin the above-described embodiment. The manually operating device 50includes a guide tube 52 and an externally threaded tube 53 disposedcoaxially and secured to a support base 51 fixed to a base plate 31, anoperating rod 54 which is threadedly fitted in the externally threadedtube 53 and rotatably and slidably received in the guide tube 52, and isrotatably connected at its front end to the push member 33, and a handle55 mounted at a rear end of the operating rod 54.

[0087] Thus, the push member 33 can be moved toward or away from thestopper member 32 by rotating the operating rod 54 rightwards orleftwards by the handle 55, and during this movement, the front doorhinges Hfa and Hfb or th rear door hinges Hra and Hrb can be clamped orreleased.

[0088] The other arrangement is the same as that of the previousembodiment. Therefore, components or portions in FIGS. 9 and 10corresponding to those in the previous embodiment are designated by likereference numerals and characters, and the description of them isomitted.

[0089] It will be understood that the present invention is not limitedto the above-described embodiments, and various modifications in designmay be made without departing from the subject matter of the inventiondefined in claims. For example, the present invention is also applicableto the assembling of door hinges to a body of a two-door typeautomobile.

What is claimed is:
 1. A door mounting method for an automobile,comprising a door hinge-attaching step (a) of preparing door hinges(Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) each comprised of a body-side hinge arm (1), adoor-side hinge arm (2), and a hinge pin (3) which connects said hingearms (1, 2) to each other for rotation relative to each other, andattaching said body-side hinge arms (1) to an uncoated automobile body(B), a temporary door-fixing step (b, c) of temporarily fixing uncoateddoors (Df, Dr) to said door-side hinge arms (2) of said door hinges(Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb), a coating step (d) of coating said automobile body(B) and said doors (Df, Dr) simultaneously after said temporarydoor-fixing step (b, c), a door-removing step (e) of removing said doors(Df, Dr) from said door-side hinge arms (2) after said coating step (d),an equipping step (f) of equipping or fitting-out said coated automobilebody (B) and said coated doors (Df, Dr) individually, and a finaldoor-attaching step (g) of finally attaching the doors (Df, Dr) to thecorresponding door-side hinge arms (2) after said equipping step (f),characterized in that the positions of attachment of said door-sidehinge arms (2) on the doors (Df, Dr) are previously determined, and atsaid temporary door-fixing step (b, c), the positions of hingepositioning and retaining means (30 fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb) of a doorhinge-assembling jig (J) set at a predetermined position on theautomobile body (B) are adjusted while taking account of the correctionof the ill-fitting of the doors to be generated when the doors (Df, Dr)will be attached to said automobile body (B) at said finaldoor-attaching step (g), and said body-side hinge arms (1) of said doorhinges (Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) retained on said hinge positioning andretaining means (30 fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb) are attached to saidautomobile body (B).
 2. A door mounting method for an automobileaccording to claim 1, wherein at said door hinge-attaching step (a),said front and rear door hinges (Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) for supporting thefront and rear doors (Df, Dr) are retained on the front and rear hingepositioning and retaining means (30 fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb) provided onthe same door hinge-assembling jig (J), and the body-side hinge arms (1)of said front and rear door hinges (Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) are attached toa front pillar (Pf) and a center pillar (Ps) of the automobile body (B),respectively.
 3. A door mounting method for an automobile according toclaim 1 or 2, wherein said temporary door-attaching step comprises atemporary rear door-fixing step for carrying out the temporary fixing ofthe rear door (Dr) to said rear door hinges (Hra, Hrb), and a temporaryfront door-fixing step for carrying out the temporary fixing of thefront door (Df) to said front door hinges (Hfa, Hfb) after saidtemporary rear door-fixing step.
 4. A door mounting method for anautomobile according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the doors(Df, Dr) are temporarily fixed to said door-side hinge arms (2) at saidtemporary door-fixing step (c), a temporary fixing bolt (07) is usedwhich has a heat flange (07 a) with a diameter smaller than a diameterof a head flange (7 a) of a bolt (7) used to attach the doors (Df, Dr)to the door-side hinge arms (2) at said final door-attaching step (g).5. A door hinge-assembling jig for an automobile, comprising a jig frame(15) having positioning engage portions (19, 19′) to be brought intoengagement for positioning with at least two points of an outer wall ofan automobile body (B), a support arm (23 f, 23 r) connected to said jigframe (15) by a pivot (22 f, 22 r) located in an intermediate portionbetween a pair of upper and lower hinge-mounting portions (13 fa, 13 fb;13 ra, 13 rb) on the automobile body (B) to extend vertically, anadjusting and fixing means (24 f, 24 r) capable of fixing said supportarm (23 f, 23 r) at any turned and adjusted positions, and a pair ofupper and lower hinge positioning and retaining means (30 fa, 30 fb; 30ra, 30 rb) mounted at upper and lower opposite ends of said support arm(23 f, 23 r) for positioning and retaining door hinges (Hfa, Hfb; Hra,Hrb) to be bolted to said hinge-mounting portions (13 fa, 13 fb; 13 ra,13 rb).
 6. A door hinge-assembling jig for an automobile according toclaim 5, wherein a rope or cable (21) is connected to said jig frame(15) for hanging down said jig frame (15).
 7. A door hinge-assemblingjig for automobile according to claim 5, wherein each of said hingepositioning and retaining means (30 fa, 30 fb; 30 ra, 30 rb) comprisesabase plate (31) fixed to said support arm (23 f, 23 r), a stoppermember (32) fixedly mounted on said base plat (31), a push member (33)supported on said base plate (31) for movement between a clos d position(C) where said push member (33) clamps the door-side hinge arm (2) ofthe door hinge (Hfa, Hfb; Hra, Hrb) by cooperation with said stoppermember (32), and an opened position (O) where said push member (33) ispositioned at a distance apart from said stopper member (32) to releasea door-side hinge arm (2), and an operating means (41, 50) capable ofoperating said push member (33) between said closed position (C) andsaid opened position (O), said push member (33) being provided withpositioning members (38, 39) to be brought into engagement in bolt bores(5, 5′) in said door-side hinge arm (2).